The Competitive Advantage in the Middle of Your Organization

by Thomas H. Davenport

In Manager Redefined, Tom Davenport and Stephen Harding explains that managers must build human capital and create employee engagement by managing them almost not at all. The authors view supervisors and managers as centers of insight and influence, underappreciated in many organizations, but endowed nevertheless with the potential to make dramatic contributions to enterprise success. They urge companies to think of their managers as potential sources of competitive advantage.

and Other Unapologetic Rules for Game-Changing Entrepreneurs

by Andy Kessler

The era of easy money and easy jobs is officially over. Today, we're all entrepreneurs, and the tides of change threaten to capsize anyone who plays it safe. Taking risks is the name of the game — but how can you tell a smart bet from a stupid gamble? In this summary, Andy Kessler explains how the world's greatest entrepreneurs don't just start successful companies — they overturn entire industries, and he offers twelve surprising and controversial rules for these radical...

10 Bold Steps that Define Gutsy Leaders

by Robert J. Herbold

Why do managers at all levels sacrifice corporate success by shying away from making the tough decisions? This executive book summary of What's Holding You Back? explores exactly why managers often hesitate to confront difficult issues and reveals the ten core principles of confident leadership, outlining proven tactics by which managers can confront their inner wimp and highlight their inner courage.

A Proven System to Drive Breakthrough Creativity

by Josh Linkner

We live in an era when business cycles are measured in months, not years. The only way to sustain long term innovation and growth is through creativity — at all levels of an organization. This executive book summary of Disciplined Dreaming shows you how to create profitable new ideas, empower all your employees to be creative, and sustain your competitive advantage over the long term. Josh Linkner distills his years of experience into a 5-step process that will make creativity...

How Social Capital Makes Organizations Work

by Laurence Prusak, Don Cohen

Cohen and Prusak explain how to build up the human connections (based on trust, mutual understanding and shared values and behaviors) that make up your company’s social capital — a critical challenge in the age of globalization, free agency and the virtual workplace.

Understanding the New Currency of Business

by Thomas H. Davenport, John C. Beck

In today’s information-rich business world, the scarcest resource is not talent or technology — it’s attention. Managers face a double challenge: to learn how to get and hold the attention of employees and consumers and to learn when to parcel out their own valuable attention. This summary shows how capturing, managing and holding attention is key to the success of your business.

The Coming Economic Battle among Japan, Europe, and America

by Lester Thurow

MIT’s Thurow looks ahead to the coming economic battles among Japan, the U.S., and Europe. Each region, he says, can succeed (or fail) in numerous ways. This scorecard of economic power is essential reading for all business people.